Page 78 of His Realm

She cleared her throat. “My consort, when you spoke that the throne room would be filled with flowers…” She glanced at Merikh.

“Did you mean that when the doors open,” Merikh asked, “flowers would fall out?”

“I was wondering about that as well,” Eris apprised me. “I mean, how are you expecting people to navigate their way through that?”

I looked at Zev, who seemed as interested in the answer as everyone else.

“No, it doesn’t mean—” I turned back to Iliria. “Best to go see my wedding coordinator, Ode, who is with the queen right now in the throne room.”

She looked worried and started wringing her hands.

“I will accompany you,” Brenna offered, glancing at Merikh, who gave her a slight tip of her head and then left to return to her post.

“My gratitude,” Iliria rushed out before she and Brenna left us to follow after the queen and Ode.

I turned back to the others then. “You all realize that filling the throne room with flowers means big arrangements up at the top of the dais and then some by the door. It’s not literally everywhere. Not to mention, filling the throne room would take far longer than we have.”

Zev nodded. “This is what we all assumed, but some of your human desires are strange.”

I crossed my arms. “Like?”

“Stuffed animals. I understand pillows, but not pillows made to look like animals like bears and especially like dogs. Why not simply acquire a dog if one wants to hug one?”

Three guards now and Zev, all waiting.

“It’s because they’re cute.”

Zev’s brows furrowed. “Are not real dogs just as cute?”

“I’ll think about it some more,” I said, turning toward the stairs.

All of them caught up to me easily.

Duro had quarters in Varic’s wing that had been kept for him. It was a big room, as all the others were, with an enormous bathroom, a reading nook, an oversized king bed because he was a big man, and a window that opened out onto the city. Ode was telling me how gorgeous it was when she and Duro came into Varic’s and my quarters.

“Okay,” she said, nodding. “Very glass, steel, and marble in here. It’s giving off museum vibes, huh?”

“Imagine if you will that it used to be emptier in here without the rugs, the kitchen, the table and chairs, and the couches on the other side.”

She squinted at me. “That’s terrifying.”

“Yeah.”

Taking a deep breath, she rushed over to the kitchen.

“Good afternoon,” Dae-Jung said, bowing and then straightening up and smiling at her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Reed.”

She offered him her hand, which he took quickly. “Please, call me Ode. You’re Dae-Jung, aren’t you?”

“I am. How did you know?”

“Oh, Jason told me all about everyone.”

“He did?”

She nodded, then turned toward the room. “You’re Kamari, you’re Eris, and you’re Sibel. Brenna is missing, and you’re Zev. You all protect Jason, which I can’t thank you enough for, and you, Dae-Jung, you make sure to take care of his insides by feeding him.”

“That’s correct.”